MIT’s Folding “City Car”

With the rise of the bourgeois class, cars are seeking a place into every household. Consequently, parking lots are running out of space. Well, to make the best out of the bad situation, geeks at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) aim to solve the problem in congested cities with their City Car concept.

City Car from MIT is a zero emission vehicle which is foldable, similar to the way grocery and shopping carts stack. And when folded, City Car’s lithium-ion batteries are automatically charged. With the seating capacity for two, the vehicle promotes socially responsible transportation in heavily populated and pollution congested urban centers.

The car concept which is equivalent to a golf cart in size is equipped with computers that locate parking lots and a mechanism that collapses it in half, taking one-eighth the size for parking to an average car. This car weighs merely 1,000-to-1,200-pound and will available for use at its parking lot after swapping a credit or debit card.

City Car concept doesn’t have central engine and traditional power train, for it is powered by in wheel motors. Each wheel unit contains drive motor – that also enables regenerative braking – steering, and suspension, and is independently digitally controlled.